america's assassin ➻ steve rogers

four

"I'm a fucking prisoner," I scoffed as Nat explained the new situation. It was all about my safety, she said. If they kept me safe, I was the ticket to taking down Delano Silver once and for all. I didn't bother telling them it was a jump, Silver wouldn't be found unless he wanted to be.

"You're not," Nat told me, dumping my suitcase in my new room at the Avengers compound. It was nice, I guess. Bullet proof windows that stretched over an entire wall, private bathroom, the usual digs. But it wasn't the home I had surrounded myself in since the Blip had been reversed.

"You are literally assigning a chaperone to my every move," I snorted. "It seems like I'm a prisoner." She said it was for my safety but I knew she and her team were just trying to maximise their likelihood of catching Silver. They had been trying to catch him for years, and I was just collateral damage.

"Say whatever you want about the team's motives," She said, examining her nails. "But mine are all to keep you safe. You're my sister." My cold heart warmed a little at her sentiment and I leaned forward to squeeze her hand.

"So who takes the second shift?" I wondered, instead of talking about Yelena the way I wanted to. I had no clue where she was, but I missed her. I worried for her.

"Steve." Nat winced. I glared at her.

"He doesn't like me very much," I said.

"You did try to stab him," She commented. I rolled my eyes.

"Only because he attacked me," I said.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't try and stab him again," She said.

"I won't make you any promises," I flipped my hair over my shoulder. "Especially if he comes at me again." She rolled her eyes now.

"He isn't going to do something like that again," She said. "Steve is a good man." I smothered my laughter behind my hand.

"Do you like him or something?" Nat stared at me, deadpan.

"Just for that, I'm going to withhold giving you a pain pill for your shoulder." I pouted.

Steve had entered my new room without a word and sat down in the armchair across from the bed, engrossed in a book he was reading. I'd turned away from him and towards the bulletproof window that overlooked the forest surrounding the compound. One palm was pressed against the glass, watching as the wind sifted through the green of the trees.

"If you want to go outside so badly, why don't you?" I turned away from the window so fast I winced as pain spiked in my newly located shoulder. Steve was staring at me now, the book closed in his lap. I wondered when he had shut it. I had been paying attention to the smallest of noises or movements but hadn't heard a thing.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"You've been staring out that window for an hour now and I bet you were looking outside with puppy dog eyes," He said. My eyebrows raised.

"Puppy dog eyes?"

"Desperation. I bet if I offered to take you out there right now you would start wagging your tail." My face contorted into a sneer.

"I'm not a dog," I warned.

"No, you're a woman who doesn't need to stay locked in this room." His eyes narrowed slightly and I recognised the expression well enough to know he was challenging me. I took the bait and glanced at the floor.

"I prefer to stay indoors."

"Why?" I looked back up at him.

"Well, seeing as the last time I left my house a man who previously believed me to be dead discovered I was, in fact, alive, it seems like the safest option. Doesn't it?"